More Hazardous Weather Patterns for World

October 15, 2013 / esfein / 1 Comment

They say the erratic weather patterns got him. Poor truck never stood a chance in this heat. http://www.mobypicture.com/user/Joseeete/view/12792610

Pollution is affecting our climates, increasing the severity of storms, and causing shifts in temperatures and weather patterns. It has been said time and time again, and yet it continues to be said, with good reason might I add! A recent study published in the scientific journal Nature, conducted by a team headed by Camilo Mora, claims that global temperatures will be drastically climbing within a generation. In less than 50 years we can see historical increases in temperatures, beating all past recorded highs for global temperatures. Imagine unbearable summers, intense heat waves, and dry times causing droughts and famine. At the same time, imagine freezing winter storms, strange weather patterns and unpredictable seasons. This is all in response to the amount of increase in greenhouse gas emissions and the effect they have on our temperature and weather patterns.

Related Article: Costly Climate Changes

Now you may be wondering what exactly it all means, what a good comparison would be. The world’s hottest day was on July 10, 1913, clocking in at 134 degrees Fahrenheit in Death Valley, California. With global temperatures on the rise, and with the study predicting a drastic increase of global highs within 50 years, we can expect to see that high of 134 degrees Fahrenheit once again being reached, maybe even surpassed, sometime in the near future. Yikes. It is not only the heat we have to worry abut, but the erratic weather patterns as well, causing melting ice caps, deadly storms, intense rain; just to name a few.

Related Article: The Ugly Face of Overpopulation

After all, weather patterns are responsible for half of our daily waking lives:

It rains, we cancel our sporting activity (some hardcore players may disagree).
It snows, well SNOW DAY of course! (Sometimes).
Hurricane/Tornado/Typhoon, houses damaged.
Humid Hot Days, stay in and blast the A/C

Anyway, you get the point. Whether you agree that weather and weather patterns are intensifying and impacting the world is up to you, but what are our preventative measures against this? Some talk of greener technology, some speak of wind power and solar power, while some encourage changes in car performance and oil usage. Some ideas even recommend taking advantage of the increasingly severe weather patterns to embrace the positive changes and avoid or harness the bad.

None of these ideas are drastic enough to stop pollution all together, nothing drastic enough to clean up more pollution than we are generating. Maybe it is because we believe ourselves to be unbeatable and indestructible, that no matter what we do or destroy, human ingenuity will persevere.

Related Article: A Cheaper Alternative to Pollution

Actually, we humans have always adapted and something like changing weather patterns and rising temperatures would be nothing new for us. In fact, I believe it would call for new crop irrigation techniques, new ideas towards more efficient cooling systems, and maybe even force us to venture out into space to colonize planets for the sake of our survival. An extreme, yes, but with our rate of pollution, and with the way we like to live comfortably and excessively, I would not be surprised if the proposed colonization of Mars is actually a trial for the coming desperate times. Weather patterns may shift, but so will humanity.

Cheers to new methods of preventing pollution!

Research:

Study Abstract: The Projected Timing of Climate Departure From Recent Variability

Nature: International Weekly Journal of Science

Camilo Mora, Postdoctoral Employee

USA TODAY: World’s hottest day was 100 years ago in Death Valley

Wondergressive: I Believe in GMOs

Wondergressive: A Cheaper Alternative to Pollution

Wondergressive: The Ugly Face of Overpopulation

Wondergressive: Costly Climate Changes

Wondergressive: Sign Me up for Mars!

Mars, The First Frontier?!

August 31, 2013 / esfein / 1 Comment

http://fineartamerica.com/featured/artists-concept-of-life-on-mars-long-mark-stevenson.html

In science news lately there has been quite a bustle about life on Mars. Not now, or rather, not about there being life on Mars right now, but about the likelihood of life on Earth originating from Mars. That’s right, our red brother could be responsible for the habitability of our mother Earth.

According to biochemist Steven Benner of the Westheimer Institute for Science and Technology in Florida, life came from a meteorite that originated from Mars. In essence, Mars has been deemed our creator. Let’s be serious for a second though, this is quite a discovery. Benner says that Earth was originally completely covered in water and that there was no room for life because of the corrosive effect water has on RNA. Why RNA you say? Without RNA there is no DNA and thus no life. So this meteorite, whether sent intentionally or sent due to a cataclysm on Mars, carried some RNA that helped spawn life on Earth. A little far-fetched, yet not all too unrealistic. To skeptics and critics Benner simply says:

Immortal Animals and the Human Link

July 7, 2013 / esfein / 2 Comments

http://www.philoscifi.com

Since time mmemorial, humans have coveted and sought the fabled ‘fountain of youth.’ To live forever is a notion reserved for science fiction and vampire dramas, but what if it were possible? For a select few animals, immortality is a reality.

*Note: While there are various more animals that effectively resist the effects of aging, this list is only composed of animals that are thought to be truly immortal, not just long lived.

Hydra:

Hydra are tiny creatures that can be found in most freshwater lakes, ponds, and streams. As they are only a few millimeters long they require a microscope to be observed. While these minuscule organisms might slip right by the naked eye, biologists and other scientists are transfixed on studying them. The reason is that hydra don’t age, not even slightly; they are truly immortal.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0a/Mikrofoto.de-Hydra_15.jpg

The source of hydra immortality lies in their ability to maintain telomere length. Each time a cell divides, telomeres, additional strands of DNA at the end of chromosomes, shorten and get chipped away. This is what causes aging and the corrupted replication of cells in all life forms, including humans. This aging process, or senescence as it is called in the scientific community, leads to age related illnesses such as cancer, and eventually death. In hydra, telmores never get shorter. Although it is unknown precisely how hydra maintain their telomere length so impeccably, recent studies have revealed that a gene called FoxO, which has a direct influence on stem cells, is likely the answer. When FoxO activity is reduced in Hydra their powers wane and they suddenly show signs of aging.

Related Article: Immortality Formula: YOLF

This is particularly exciting because FoxO is also responsible for stem cell activity in humans. Greater FoxO activity is routinely found in people with abnormally long lifespans, like centenarians. It may be possible to increase FoxO activity from an early age, maintain levels of stem cells in the body, and thus increase human lifespan by 1000’s of years; maybe even forever.

Jellyfish:

Jellyfish come in all shapes and sizes, but one particular jellyfish is especially baffling; the immortal jellyfish. Technically called Turritopsis nutricula, the immortal jellyfish has the ability to, at any strage of its life, completely reverse its aging process.

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m9j185MeoQ1rcmvwbo1_400.jpg

Jellyfish begin as small polyps on the ocean floor. These polyps branch off and eventually grow into medusas, or sexually mature jellyfish, with tentacles and the traditional jellyfish-look we all know and adore. The immortal jellyfish holds the title of being the only animal with the ability to revert back into a sexually immature state after being sexually mature. The medusa form of the immortal jellyfish reverses the aging process through a method known as cell transdifferentiation. This process transforms cells into a different cellular state, including earlier states. As the cells transform, the medusa retracts its tentacles and head into itself, turns back into a polyp, embeds itself back into the ocean floor, and starts life all over again.

For some human perspective, imagine all the cells in your body suddenly transforming into stem cells as your body shrinks and reverts back into an infantile state. From deathbed to birthing room in the blink of an eye.

Interestingly, immortal jellyfish have a choice to drink from the fountain of youth or not. While some jellyfish reset life early on, others choose to brave the struggle of old age and eventually die without the opportunity for a second chance. Who can really blame them though? Without Wondergressive or pirated entertainment, what’s the point of living?

Lobsters:

Lobsters, the hallmark of a luxury dinner and recently discovered abundant power source, are also immortal. While scientists have never found a 10,000 year old lobster lurking on the ocean floor, at the cellular level, they age at a negligible rate. As long as lobsters are not hunted, fatally injured, or killed by disease, they could live indefinitely. It gets even stranger, as lobsters become more fertile as they age:

http://news.nationalgeographic.com

They don’t slow down or become weaker or more susceptible to disease. They don’t get infertile — older lobsters are actually more fertile than younger ones.

This is unprecedented! Ladies, can you imagine getting menopause out of the way when you are 10 and being at the height of your sexual activity when you are 90? Welcome to the life of a lobster.

Related Article: Cyborg Lobsters Power a Digital Watch

Scientists believe that like hydra, lobsters are able to beat the aging process through the maintenance of its telomeres, as lobsters produce a large amount of telomerase, the enzyme responsible for ensuring the health and longevity of telomeres.

As lobsters age, they continue to grow larger and larger, making it easy to guess the age of a lobster based on its size. The largest recorded lobster ever caught was in Nova Scotia, Canada, weighed 44.4 lbs and was believed to be 50 years old.

Planarian Flatworms:

Planarian flatworms are non-parasitic worms that are found all over the world; in saltwater, freshwater, soil, and more. They are very common, and come in the asexual and sexual variety, take your pick. No matter which type you choose, you’ll still be choosing another immortal animal.

Related Article: Fly Away Home: Birds Evolve With Automobile Traffic

http://natural-japan.net/photos/planarian02.jpg

Through plentiful adult stem cells and a high production of telomerase, planarian flatworms have an infinite regenerative ability. This incredible regeneration applies not only to the general maintenance of its body, but also to an unprecedented level of repair in the event of physical damage.

Planaria can be cut into pieces, and each piece can regenerate into a complete organism. Cells at the location of the wound site proliferate to form a blastema that will differentiate into new tissues and regenerate the missing parts of the piece of the cut planaria.

1/279th of a piece of planarian flatworm can be cut from its body and will grow into a new, completely independent flatworm within a few weeks. You can slice and dice this animal into hundreds of pieces and you’ll just be left with more worms!

Even more interestingly,

if the head of a planaria is cut in half down its centre, and each side retained on the organism, its possible for the planaria to regenerate two heads and continue to live.

Imagine if every time you cut yourself shaving a mini-you started writhing and growing in the sink. In this way, the planarian flatworm can continuously regrow itself and remain immortal through countless copies.

Tardigrades:

Tardigrades are also called waterbears, or moss piglets, because under a microscope, that’s exactly what they look like. They are one of the most well known extremophiles; animals that can survive under conditions fatal to most other forms of life. They are usually around 1 millimeter in length and can be found absolutely everywhere on the planet, from common streams, to moss in your backyard, to the top of the Himalayas, and even in newly discovered ecosystems. They prefer places with lots of moisture, but as you’ll soon see, it really doesn’t matter to them where they live.

Related Article: New Ecosystem Discovered: Glacier Mice

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk

Although Tardigrades aren’t immortal in the same sense as the animals listed above, they have the incredible ability to survive in nearly every environment known to man, including the vacuum of space, by entering a state of suspended animation called cryptobiosis where their metabolism reaches near zero. They can stay in this state for more than ten years, return to normal, and go right back into the suspended state for another 10 years of rest and relaxation. They are their own cryogenic tanks.

Tardigrades have been observed surviving extreme conditions such as:

Temperatures above 300 F
Temperatures lower than -328 F
Pressure of more than 6,000 atmospheres (six times the pressure of water in the Mariana trench)
More than 10 years without water
Extremely lethal human doses of gamma, heavy ion, and UV radiation
The vacuum of space

Tardigrades are naturally indestructible, and if they desire to be, are also immortal.
All of these animals and their remarkable anti-aging abilities are creating new opportunities for scientists to actually discover and synthesize the ‘fountain of youth.’ In fact, many prominent scientists believe that the solution(s) to old age and even death is right around the chronological corner. According to Aubrey de Grey, a British researcher on aging and life extension, the first human being to live to 1000 years old has already been born. It might even be you…

http://indiaexplored.files.wordpress.com

Source List:

BBC Nature: Nature’s Guide to Immortality

UCI.edu: Senescence in Hydra

Wondergressive: Telomere and Aging

PNAS: FoxO is a critical regulator of stem cell maintenance in immortal Hydra

Extreme Longevity: Hydra Immortality Linked to Human Lifespan

Developmental Biology: The Immortal Life Cycle of Turritopsis

JSTOR: Reversing the Life Cycle

Cell Transdifferentiation

Wondergressive: Hollywood is Pirating Hollywood

Wondergressive: Cyborg Lobsters Power a Digital Watch

HowStuffWorks: 400 Pound Lobster

Telomeres and Cellular Aging

Guinness World Records: Heaviest Marine Crustacean

Encyclopedia Britannica: Planarian

PubMed: Planarian Regeneration

PubMed.gov: Stem Cells and Regeneration in Planarians

NewScientist: Regenerating Animals

Wondergressive: New Ecosystem Discovered: Glacier Mice

Youtube: Tardigrades First Animal to Survive in Space

IWU.edu: Tardigrades

Journal of Zoology: Longterm Anhydrobiotic Survival

Survival of Tardigrades in Extreme Environments

Current Biology: Tardigrades Survive Exposure to Space

Nature: Preserving Tardigrades Under Pressure

PubMed.gov: Radiation Tolerance in the Tardigrade

Discovery.com: Immortal Animals Reveal Anti-aging Secrets

TED: We Can Avoid Aging

Additional Related Resources:

Wondergressive: Cannabis Cures Cancer and Everything Else: A Thorough History and Review

Wondergressive: Obesity and Low-Carb Fads

Wondergressive: The Great Vitamin D-ficiency

Wondergressive: Green Tea Health

Wondergressive: Low-carb/Low-calorie Diet Produces Compound That Blocks the Effects of Aging

Wondergressive: The Wonderful, Healthier, Life Changing and Life Lengthening World of Fasting

Fly Away Home: How Birds Evolve with Automobile Traffic

March 20, 2013 / esfein / 2 Comments

http://www.operationmigration.org/images/photo%20journal%2003/FAH/anna-igor.jpg

Those that learn, earn their place. It seems that even birds are taking this survival of the fittest motto to heart in a new unique way. A study has recently yielded that birds may be learning from each other about our speed demon tendencies. The truth is, I vaguely remember the last time I saw roadkill on the highway during my commute to work. Even so, reportedly:

An estimated 80 million birds are killed by colliding with vehicles on U. S. roads each year, and millions more die annually in Europe and elsewhere.

Yes, those numbers do seem ridiculously high, but there may be hope for our little companions that fly near our speedy death machines. Researchers Charles R. Brown and Mary Bomberger Brown in Nebraska found that although the swallow population increased over their 30 year study period, the death by vehicle fatality of swallows sharply decreased from 1983 to 2012. Swallows tend to learn from their neighbors, which is a trait shared by many animals, and natural instinct may be evolving in species to guide them away from human dangers.

The study also mentions that the birds living near highways have, through a possible natural selection, evolved to have smaller wingspans for quicker movements vertically in the air allowing for a zippy escape from oncoming traffic. If a bird with a larger wingspan decided to fly into traffic, it would have a harder time flying directly up and away from danger than its smaller counterpart because of the lower wing loading of longer wings.

What does it all mean? Is mother nature preparing against human interaction? Have we affected our animal neighbors so much that they have to develop an internal mechanism to evolve with our advancing technology? What happens when we start hovering from place to place? Will the animals adapt to our flight? Or will we simply find more animals mourning each other’s deaths as humans continue to evolve?

At least it is nice to know that humans get the respect they deserve. I wonder what else we can passively bend to our will!

Research:

Where Has Roadkill Gone

Wing Loading

Wondergressive – Cannabis Cures Cancer

Wondergressive – Birds Mourn Death

Wondergressive – Blimps are the Future!

Wondergressive – The Folly of High Speed Rail in America

The Secret World of Bacteria

March 8, 2013 / esfein / Leave a comment

http://joannecasey.blogspot.com/2009/07/support-bacteria.html

Warning: this article should not be read within proximity to sandpaper or pumice rocks as there is a high likelihood of sanding down one’s skin in terror. This one gets gross, kiddies.

One of the many benefits already seen since the inception of the Human Microbiome Project in 2007 is the outrageous discovery that only 10% of our body is human.

What kind of madman rant are you going on this time, Qwizx?

As it turns out, crazy as it may sound, the overwhelming majority of cells within/out our person are bacteria. In fact, we are a staggering 90% non-human. Swimming amidst the estimated 10 trillion cells constituting your selfness are something like 100 trillion individual little critters that call your life-fluids home. In a microscopic landscape of terrain, legions of monsters are swathing, swarming, warring, breeding, breathing and all-out taking over the slabs of meat we self-reference as “I.”

100 trillion is a big number, maybe too large for a human mind to fathom, so instead, let’s imagine it this way: There are currently 7,000,000,000 people in the world (that’s billion, with a B)… There are 14 THOUSAND times that many (our current planetary population) bacteria wiggling inside you this moment, Jacuzzi-ing in your tear-ducts as you read this. When I say bacteria, by the way, I mean these things (thank you, electron microscopes)…

Cluster of E. Coli sipping margaritas by the lake of sulfur in hell, or…

http://www.hubbardbrook.org/mirrorlake_kids_tour/images/bacbunch2big.png

Setting up camp in a clump of uranium like it ain’t no thang

http://engineering.curiouscatblog.net/images/metallireducens_bacteria.jpg

Essentially, research teams have gathered data that redefines humanity, suggesting the body is a superorganism “whose metabolism represents an amalgamation of microbial and human attributes.”

Life always finds a way, just not necessarily humanoid life. A genomic sequencing study has recently discovered high numbers of hydrothermal vent eubacteria on prosthetic hip joints. This wouldn’t be a big deal, considering the plethora of ghouls infesting people, accept hydrothermal vent eubacteria are a species once thought only to live in the blackness of the ocean’s depths (you know, cause surviving on uranium isn’t scary enough).

(below) At Steve’s liver for the weekly orgy and ritual-sacrifice (BYOB)

http://s1.ibtimes.com/sites/www.ibtimes.com/files/styles/article_large/public/2012/10/04

By no means is this exclusively shiver-inducing news. Like when Copernicus realized the earth revolved around the sun, this is a “discovery,” meaning it was always true, just now it’s news to us. No need for mass panic, cause this is how it’s supposed to work, and always has. However, there are some interesting implications:

Hurray, no more lonely Saturday nights!

Imagine our bodies, now, as a planet onto themselves, where bacteria pay their property taxes, vote, and even take their kids to little league in the small intestine. We humans are not individuals, but a collective, a civilization or a conglomerate, united in a symbiosis where each individual creepy-crawly plays his part on the whole. Sure, just like in human civilizations, there are the equivalent of warring gang factions, and like we always do, these sparse rebels gets all the focus (I’m looking at you, gonorrhea.), but our microscopic brothers and sisters are absolutely essential to our continued existence.

If we’re like a corporation, hell yeah, I get to be the CEO.

Not quite. Sorry. We’re more like the semi-dipshit boss wrapped around his employees’ fingers. The sneaky scallywags just let us think the best ideas are ours so we can save face; the germs are in charge. Through the clever excretion of chemicals, our fuzzy little friends manipulate our lives in almost every conceivable way, from our health to straight up mind-control. However, don’t panic; it’s less like “Invasion of the Body-Snatchers,” and more like the Futurama episode where Fry eats the vending machine egg salad and becomes an Ubber-Fry.

Cuddly fella literally tugging at heart strings.

http://media.eurekalert.org/multimedia_prod/pub/web/35849_web.jpg

The NIH’s Human Microbiome Project plans on cataloging the entire human microbiome, or metagenome, and thus far only approximately 1% of this microbiota has been characterized and identified. They’ve just begun to peak into the Pandora’s box of possibilities from our neighbors to the nano, so, I don’t know about you, but I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed for sensory enhancing super parasites.

By all means, keep washing your hands, but these guys are unavoidable. See that cute fella hiding in the upper-left corner of this close-up of dust (below), the Kraken-lookin spawn of Lucifer posing for a cameo in your nightmares? He’s everywhere.

(technicolor added for enhanced terror)

http://www.orble.com/images/electron-microscope-photography-brandon-brill31.jpg

As a final gut-wrenching thought, even if you just brushed your teeth, here’s a close-up of just some of the things currently crawling on your tongue.

http://www.orble.com/images/electron-microscope-photography-brandon-brill31.jpg

Sources:

hmpdacc.org

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov (2, 3, 4 times)

mpkb.org

scientificamerican.com

news.sciencemag.org

watchcartoononline.com

A Note on the Top 1%: Psychopaths or Superhumans?

February 15, 2013 / esfein / 2 Comments

http://masksofsanity.blogspot.com/

A few days ago, we looked into the coming rise of a new species being developed by the technocrats; it’s nigh. Spectacular as this notion is, as it turns out, the next stage in human development has already arrived, interlaced inconspicuously amongst us, as though “They Live” were a documentary.

Doesn’t anyone have a goddamn stick of gum?!
http://www.releasedonkey.com

You see, everyone loves a good ethnic slur, but under our thin veil of cultural, linguistic, economic, and pigment differences, it’s understood that we’re all one collective unity of mankind. Hi, brothers and sisters. So with the utmost love and respect for all y’all round the globe (minus Canada, America’s ceaseless punchline), we can all join hands in an orgy of discrimination against the one group that’s not like the others. Proudly, I’ll stand on my soapbox of an anonymous keyboard and proclaim something we’ve all long suspected, but never voiced: “yuppies aren’t human.”

…Literally… Let me explain

If there’s one thing I’d gleaned from my last stint in the psych-ward (like you didn’t suspect), it’s how, like an uncured slab of beef, the lines between mental illnesses, unfortunately, are neither cut nor dry (consider the utter failure of the DSM). A great deal of consensus, however, stands in the psychologist community to where these muddied lines can be drawn, and the word “psychopath” is not a term bandied lightly, folks. A psychopath, apparently, is not always the image immediately drawn to mind of some knife wielding pariah, glazed in dried mustard and animal-semen (gross), prowling the subway adorned only in a single strategically-placed pool-floatie, who passes the day lobbing “Jesus saves” paper-airplane pamphlets at jaded urbanites. Nah, he’s probably wearing a silk tie, Gucci perhaps.

Psychopaths, in fact, while occasionally criminal masterminds, are masterful social chameleons, often indistinguishable from the crowd. Preconceived notions blown. A new theoretical analysis suggests that psychopathy is not merely a mental disorder, though, but rather the psychopath is a separate new sub-species of human altogether, a new animal. No joke. Sure, Patrick Bateman may lob revving chainsaws upon fleeing call-girls, but he wasn’t human, so it’s copacetic. Evolution, it seems, just won’t take a day off. Psychopathy is categorized with traits of:

glib and superficial charm

grandiose (exaggeratedly high) estimation of self

need for stimulation

pathological lying

cunning and manipulativeness

lack of remorse or guilt

shallow affect (superficial emotional responsiveness)

callousness and lack of empathy

parasitic lifestyle

poor behavioral controls

sexual promiscuity

early behavior problems

lack of realistic long-term goals

impulsivity

irresponsibility

failure to accept responsibility for own actions

many short-term marital relationships

juvenile delinquency

revocation of conditional release

criminal versatility

To sum all that up, psychopaths (henceforth redubbed Homo Psychopathius^TM) are highly-intelligent, calculating, manipulative machines of self-interested ambition, lacking the capacity for conscience due to the inability to feel emotion. They are a manifestation of the cliché wolf in sheep’s clothing as a predator in white-collar work clothes, and these things aren’t human.

With an untappable spigot of raw uninhibited self-interest at its disposal, Homo Psychopathius often rises to the top of whatever organization/ field it sets its aim at. They are natural visionaries, innovators, and leaders of men, so it just makes sense that, statistically, the career with the highest propensity for psychopathy is nothing less than the CEO.

Over the last few decades, as you’ve undoubtedly noticed, the global power regime has shifted reigns from the uber-nation to the empire-corporation being the vaster colossus of influence. Our ruling class, then, are the highly-competent next stage in evolution, being more adapted for the major-leagues without the nuisance of those silly outdated oddities called feelings. Further still, note this list of the top ten careers Homo Psychopathius are found in, not forgetting the psychopath, more often than not, is at the forefront head of his field:

1. CEO
2. Lawyer
3. Media (Television/Radio)
4. Salesperson
5. Surgeon
6. Journalist
7. Police officer
8. Clergy person
9. Chef
10. Civil servant

Wait! Wait! Wait! Holy shit! What are you saying?

This thing is smarter than you, vastly more driven to power. It controls the companies you work for; it represents your legal system, decides what news you hear, tells you what to consume (down to a science), holds your life in its hands, arrests your deviants, propagates your religions, and it dominates your politics… oh yeah, and cooks your food (never trust a guy with a set of personally engraved knives, I guess).

We’re not alarmist here. Rather, I propose a happy compromise over this news: as successful as these things have proven themselves to be, rising to the apex of society, I offer that we humans dutifully permit this new animal to take the reins (cause it already has) as the new dominant species of the planet. You win, psychopaths. Game over. Anyway, our outdated human machine doesn’t mind serving as the structural base for your mighty overlord will. We’re more suited for playing Minecraft, masturbating, and following your orders. It’s kinda what we’re good at. If it’s not overly presumptuous of me to assume the diplomat between our 2 great peoples, let me be the first of my kind to say, “I vow my allegiance. All hail the morlocks! (I’m on board, guys. Eat someone else’s kids.)”

Fellow sapians, kinda brings the whole “Occupy Wall Street” thing into a new light, huh? Looks like the X-Men comics had it right all along: the 1% with all the powers really were the next stage of human evolution.

Take it; leave it; use it as an excuse to embrace your inner asshole.

Either way, let the hate mail commence.

http://lunsfuhd.tumblr.com

Sources:

Wondergressive: The Singularity is Nigh Upon Us

I’m Here To Chew Bubblegum

Ari Shaffir: The Amazing Racist

Wondergressive: Impossible to Distinguish Sane from Insane

Wondergressive: You Might be a Psychopath

CBS: DSM New Psych Bible

People Claiming to be Jesus

Psychopath: a New Subspecies

Patrick Bateman

Psychopathy List

PubMed.gov: Genetic Risk for Psychopathy in 7 Year Olds

PubMed.gov: Corporate Psychopathy

Psychopathy and the CEO

Corporate Psychopaths and Global Financial Crisis

Corporate Psychopaths: Bullying and Unfair Supervision

MSN: 10 Sneaky Care Dealer Tricks

Who Runs the World: Global Corporate Control

Minecraft

Morlock

Occupy Wall Street

Bonobo Makes Tools Similar to Early Humans

August 23, 2012 / esfein / Leave a comment

Kanzi the genius Bonobo can speak sign language, assign words to his favorite items, and can now create relatively sophisticated stone tools!

The most remarkable aspect of the tools Kanzi created “is their resemblance to early hominid tools.” Kanzi is able to crate and distinguish between wedges, choppers, scrapers and drills in order to get hard-to-access food.

These findings may help illuminate what defines modern human culture.

It is unclear whether these specific tools could be created by Bonobos in nature without any direct influence. One thing is clear though, the potential is there!

Morality In Animals

August 17, 2012 / esfein / Leave a comment

Morality in Animals is a TED talk that documents some very interesting findings regarding how animals exhibit what we think of as morality.

It is so interesting seeing animals behave in ways that philosophers have always imagined to be strictly ‘human.’ This information may help end the sordid ways we treat other species, and our own.

Why do we have zoos again?

*Update*

Here is another article continuing the discussion of morality in animals. It also remarks that “chimpanzees, who cannot swim, have drowned in zoo moats trying to save others. Given the chance to get food by pulling a chain that would also deliver an electric shock to a companion, rhesus monkeys will starve themselves for several days.”

These animals sound even more moral than many humans I know.

Morality In Animals: Chimpanzees That Risk Their Own Lives

August 17, 2012 / esfein / 2 Comments

opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com

Morality in Animals is a TED talk by Frans de Waal that documents some very interesting findings regarding how animals exhibit what we think of as morality.

An article from The New York TImes continues the discussion of morality in animals with their article on primate behavior. It also remarks that

chimpanzees, who cannot swim, have drowned in zoo moats trying to save others. Given the chance to get food by pulling a chain that would also deliver an electric shock to a companion, rhesus monkeys will starve themselves for several days.

These animals sound even more moral than most humans I know.

Why do we have zoos again?

Sources and Resources for Morality in Animals:

TED talk: Moral Behavior in Animals

Living Links Center for the Advanced Study of Ape and Human Evolution

The New York Times: Scientists Find the Beginning of Morality in Primate Behavior

Biology and Philosophy: Wild Justice and Fair Play: Cooperation, Forgiveness, and Morality in Animals

Life, It’s All Over The Place

August 17, 2012 / esfein / 5 Comments

UFOs, aliens, de-materialization, anti-gravity, velocities beyond that of light; it’s all incredibly fascinating as well as being some fantastic enigmas. I’ve just finished watching a movie on Google Videos entitled UFO: The Greatest Story Ever Denied. It documents a myriad of possible evidence, physical and spoken, that sheds some light on the existence of extra-terrestrial life, as well as the knowledge the human race currently and historically has had of life beyond our little planet. The presenters in the video are not Joe the farmer by the way. They hold such titles as brigadier general, former chief executive of NSC, astrophysicist, varying classes of military, including black ops, and more.

I think it’s a bit naive and downright ignorant to think that out of all the infinite space that the cosmos entails, Earth is the only planet that harbors intelligent, let alone minimally complex life. The very thought that life would be so rare is ignorant in and of itself. Life is found everywhere on this planet, even places where, by definition, it shouldn’t exist.

Did you know there are tiny organisms living in sulfuric acid within most limestone caves inside of the Earth? They even consume iron, and use the element as a building block for its cellular protein! How weird is that?? Very weird, which is exactly the point. Just because it’s difficult to imagine a life form that doesn’t breathe oxygen and isn’t bound by the traditional hierarchical consumption of sunlight (the food chain) does not rule out its existence. Some life forms even redefine what we think of as normal geometry in life.

And check this: scientists have speculated that it is not out of the realm of possibility that Venus, a planet once thought of as inhospitable for life could in fact be teeming with it!

All it takes is a bit of imagination and observation, and suddenly the universe seems far less lonely, and a whole lot more active!